UDAF Commissioner Elected NASDA President, Vows To Level Import-Export Playing Field For US Agriculture

Utah Commissioner of Agriculture and Food, Cary G. Peterson was elected the 82nd president of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA), and pledged to help America's farmers and ranchers by removing unfair barriers to foreign export markets. Commissioner Peterson now heads the 82 year old association, which is one of the more influential agricultural organizations in the nation. Peterson told the association, which is made up of agriculture commissioners, secretaries and directors from around the nation, that American farmers and ranchers must continue to protect their clean water environment. He also emphasized issues such as: food safety, critical land and water resource protection, the non-point source clean water initiative, and confined animal feedlot operations.

Peterson was elected President of NASDA during the association's annual meeting held in Charleston, South Carolina September 25 - 29, 1998. NASDA is made up of agriculture commissioners, secretaries and directors from the 50 states and various US territories.

"Currently the playing field is not level when it comes to exporting our products to foreign countries. It's a fast track for incoming commodities, but is often a slow track for our products going out," said Commissioner Peterson. "We can profitably compete if trading countries eliminate embargoes, tariffs and other trade restraining practices," he added.

Peterson says current trade enforcement practices punish American farmers and ranchers and do a disservice to the American consumer. He says low quality and poorly inspected imported food is displacing the fresh, safe and high quality foods produced in the US. In many cases, he says, inspection of foreign products is one-tenth that in the US. The current global economic downturn is producing an over supply of low cost foods entering the US. The result is creating hardships on American and Utah farmers.

Commissioner Peterson led a contingent of NASDA members to Washington DC during the meeting to urge Congress to provide relief to America's farmers to counteract economic conditions that threaten the stability of 20 to 30 percent of the nation's family farms. NASDA seeks a funding package that provides: multi-year disaster assistance totaling $935 million, general disaster aid and emergency livestock feed assistance, compensation for loss of flooded land, increased loan caps, and other provisions.

NASDA is a nonprofit, nonpartisan association whose mission is to support and promote the American agriculture industry, while protecting consumers and the environment, through the development, implementation and communication of sound public policy and programs.

Posted 7 October, 1998